A rising composer of American music, Jonathan Kolm's works have been heard around the country and abroad. His music combines emotional intensity and rich harmonic colors and has been recognized with many awards and prizes in national competitions.

He is the 2009 recipient of the 2009 Janet and Craig Swan Prize in Composition awarded by the University of Minnesota and the American Composers Forum. He participated in the 2008 Vocal Essence/American Composers Forum workshop for new choral music working with critically acclaimed conductor Philip Brunelle and the ensemble he founded, Vocal Essence. 2007 saw the premiere of a new choral work commissioned by the Young New Yorker's Chorus in June 2007 in New York City as well as winning first place in the Austin Peay State Composition Competition for A Dream within a Dream, written for soprano, cello and piano.

After moving to Austin, Texas to pursue a DMA in composition at the University of Texas, his choral work Winter Heavens was premiered in October 2005 in New York City by the New York Virtuoso Singers under Harold Rosenbaum and he was a Symposium Fellow at MUSIC05 in Cincinnati where his piece for three percussionists on one vibraphone Warrior from the Deep was premiered. Crystal Fantasy, for violin, cello, flute, and clarinet was performed at the Dallas Museum of Art where it won second place in the 2005 Voices of Change Composition Contest. In 2006 a large-scale cantata for choir and orchestra was commissioned and premiered in April, 2006 in Austin, Texas, as well as set of pieces for violin and piano that were commissioned by the Austin Eurhythmy Ensemble and premiered in St. Paul, Minnesota on May 26th, 2006 with many subsequent later performances. His work for SATB chorus Cedo Maiori was premiered in October 2006 in New York City by the New York Virtuoso Singers at Columbia University.

Before moving to Texas, he earned a Bachelor of Music in piano performance in 1999 and his Master of Music in composition in 2000, both from Virginia Commonwealth University. Compositional highlights include winning second place in the 2001 Percussive Arts Society Composition Competition, third place in the 2002 National Federation of Music Clubs Competition for Young Composers as well as the 2002 Nancy and Russel Hatz Special Recognition Award. He has also had his music published by Honeyrock Publishing and has written music for several films and theatrical productions. Films that he has scored have been screened at prestigious film festivals in the United States and abroad.

Also highly engaged as a researcher and historian, he lectures on various topics of 20th century American history and the intersection of energy and politics.